Over the past several decades, many of our most essential tools from the analog era have either adapted to give us more flexibility, recallability, and automation, or been replaced by digital versions in which these features are much easier to implement (and now come standard). One holdout, until very recently, was the patchbay. It seemed unthinkable just a few years ago to enter the control room of any professional-level studio and not see a huge stack of 96-point TT patchbays at the heart of it. Complex digital routing systems have been around for a while, but many of us want to continue to use our analog gear while going through as few conversion stages as possible. How can you keep your signal analog, yet utilize the type of control and convenience a digital routing matrix offers? It's a challenge, to say the least. So, as smart people faced with a challenge do, Jared Vogt (Trillium Lane Labs) and Paul Wolff (API and Tonelux) set out to figure out how to bring the analog patchbay into the 21st century, resulting in the Wolff Audio ProPatch.
As of this writing, the only available version of this product is the ProPatch 128R (64 inputs and 64 outputs). It contains 96 channels of I/O on the rear panel, via twelve DB-25 connectors, and 32 channels on the front, via an assortment of TT (Bantam), XLR, and 1/4-inch TRS jacks. I’ll get into these front connectors later, but let’s focus on the DB-25s for a minute. Long-time Tape Op readers may know how much I love DB-25 cables for larger channel counts, largely due to their per-channel affordability – especially when making them yourself, but also when buying pre-made ones. On top of that, they allow you to swap eight balanced channels at a time quickly, enabling this humble gear reviewer to integrate a ProPatch into their existing system with minimal fuss. The only two things I don’t like about DB-25s are that their hoods act like little grappling hooks when you’re snaking them through your other cables (ARRGH!), and sometimes the little nuts on the gear get stuck on the thumbscrews instead of staying put on the panel, but neither of those issues are the fault of Wolff Audio.
What exactly does the ProPatch do? Well, the same thing any traditional patchbay does: It allows you to change the interconnections between any of the devices wired to it from a single central location, without having to crawl under your desk or behind your rack every time you want to redirect your signal flow. If we never wanted to change our signal flow, we could just wire a mic into a preamp into a compressor into an interface, and never have to think about it again. But most of us are a little too mercurial for that. Or, we want to use that compressor on the vocal during tracking, but switch it up to use on the bass during a mix.
The magic of ProPatch lies in its use of relays to perform re-routing, which are controlled by software running on your Mac or PC. The connection to the computer for this control is over either USB-C or Ethernet. I had a little trouble getting a solid link with my Apple Mac Studio, since the USB-C connection wasn’t stable – apparently a bug with my particular unit – and I use a lot of Ethernet devices, some of which need a direct line to the computer (like the Avid Pro Tools | Carbon [Tape Op #144]). None of the various hubs I have worked reliably, so I bought a $10 generic 5-port gigabit Ethernet switch, which allowed me to connect my LAN, Avid S3 [#130], and ProPatch to the Ethernet port of the Mac, and has given me zero problems over months of use. There is also a plan to allow future users to purchase “super high quality conversion” as an upgrade to ProPatch units, either via the secondary Ethernet port for Dante or over USB-C.
Back to the relays. There are other devices now on the market that function similarly to the ProPatch but utilize active electronics in the routing. However, a relay is just a switch, and once these types of switches (latching, for the nerds) do their thing, they are basically the same as a straight wire. In other words, there are no active electronics in this signal path, only in the control over the switching mechanism. If you unplug the ProPatch after making connections, your signal still flows exactly how you configured it. Yes, this means that there is zero signal degradation, but it also means that the unit operates with an extremely low amount of heat, which means no loud fans running! In addition, these relays are signal-agnostic; they can pass mic level signal, plus with phantom power, just as well as instrument or line level, or control voltage, or whatever – you name it.
From the software end, you first need to enter all of your gear (and where it’s connected to the ProPatch) into the Wolff Hound utility application, so that the system can follow your instructions properly to make connections via your gear’s “nodes”. I found the software interface for adding this information just slightly cumbersome, but A) you only have to do this when you first set it all up (or any time you want to add new gear), and B) there’s also a way you can enter it all in via spreadsheet, which I learned, along with several other tips and tricks, from watching Tape Op Gear Geek Andy Hong’s very informative video on setting up the ProPatch. Also, it’s important to note that this software is in its infancy – I was using a Beta version when I first got hold of the ProPatch – and after talking at length with the designer, Jared Vogt, I’m certain they’ll find ways to streamline all of the processes with future software updates; I’ve rarely encountered a gear designer as open to user feedback as Jared is!
Once your gear is all set up and labeled, you can start making Chains. These Chains have a Source and a Destination, and you can drag and drop Processors in at will. You hear the relays clicking each time you activate or change a Chain, which satisfyingly alerts you that the physical analog connection has now been made. There is a very short dropout in your audio while making changes to the routing, but nothing like pulling and repatching a TT patch cable! You can have mono or stereo Chains, as well as mono-to-stereo for certain types of processors (for example, a Yamaha SPX-90II).
Lots of scenarios for which we use patchbays are duly represented in the software interface. For instance, multing is easy and straightforward for parallel processing or other types of signal splitting, and A/B-ing between processors in a Chain is a breeze! Since there’s MIDI implementation, you can quickly and easily set up a MIDI keyboard, Elgato Stream Deck, or other controller for A/B/C/X-ing or activating Chains. Think of the automation possibilities routing MIDI in from a DAW! I do hope for more direct SoundFlow [Tape Op #149] integration at some point, so that setting up a Stream Deck to have deeper control would be possible for us SoundFlow nerds. Again, Jared seemed very open to the idea of figuring out how to make that happen.
You can set up default Sessions for different tasks, such as tracking, re-amping, mixing, etc. Then, when you have your routing set up for a given session or song, you simply save that collection of Chains as a Session. Obviously, it doesn’t save the state of the outboard gear – that’s what smartphone cameras are for – but it’s halfway towards a recall if you need to make a tweak, re-track a vocal, or whatever. There are many other things I love about using the ProPatch; too many to list here. Some quick internet searching will reveal several excellent tutorials.
A few words about the price of the ProPatch: Yes, it’s a chunk of change. The hardware costs involved in keeping the audio path so pristine are what make it a formidable investment; there are over 1,500 relays in the ProPatch 128R! For you mastering folks with only a handful of outboard boxes, you can get in relatively cheaply with the 32R (16 inputs and 16 outputs), but those of us who use a bunch of analog gear for tracking and mixing aren’t so lucky. The value, however, is clearly in how much it speeds up your patching workflow, and how it knocks down barriers to creativity. I’ve found that the ease in quickly trying out new processing chains inevitably jump-starts sonic exploration, and keeps me using the more esoteric hardware boxes I’ve already invested in. Some simple math shows that the 64R is the best value, in terms of dollars per patch point, but that doesn’t help much if the gear you want to connect exceeds its capacity. Chaining two or more units together is certainly possible, but it greatly reduces your efficiency, since you need to dedicate some of each unit’s valuable points for the interconnects, and also employ certain workflow workarounds to integrate the various units in the software, therefore defeating much of the purpose of this type of system. My advice is to definitely get the unit that you can fit all of your gear into; otherwise, you’re asking for some amount of headache keeping track of which devices live in the ProPatch environment and which devices are only accessible via your traditional patchbays. Remember to count all of your interface I/O when calculating your patch point needs! Even though the jacks on the face of the unit are super handy to have available for ad hoc connections, I suggest using them as a type of “producer panel,” reserving them for gear that may enter your studio temporarily. I personally found it a bit of a pain to use them as a means to communicate with my own gear that didn’t “make the cut” into the more permanent (rear) connections of the 128R. After all, one of the selling points of the ProPatch is to eliminate the constant cascade of patch cables draping down the face of our racks. Additionally, the beauty of a digital system is instant recallability, so I want my default Wolff Hound session to always correctly reflect all of the connected gear without having to repatch a bunch of analog cables. For my studio, and the amount of gear it holds, the 200R will fit the bill perfectly. It’s not available while writing this, but it is slated to be out by the time you’re reading it, so I very much hope to have one clicking away in my rack as you peruse these words.